Nvidia readies GeForce3 for March launch

Nvidia is set to launch its latest graphics card, the GeForce3, for the PC and Mac at the end of this month. The card will provide significantly more power than its predecessor, the GeForce2 GTS, the company claimed.

Nvidia is set to launch its latest graphics card, the GeForce3, for the PC and Mac at the end of this month. The card will provide significantly more power than its predecessor, the GeForce2 GTS, the company claimed.

The new chip architecture, dubbed nfiniteFX, is based on two new on-chip processors, Vertex and Pixel. The former is a programmable geometry engine, the latter a programmable rendering system.

This will allow 3D software developers to customise the chip to the specific needs of their applications, programming graphical effects to run directly off the graphics card rather than drain the PC's processor.

Both technologies will be integral features of Microsoft's imminent DirectX8 software, which it designed with Nvidia. The same core technology will also be used in Microsoft's Xbox games console when it is released towards the end of this year.

In addition, improved memory bandwidth and a technique Nvidia refers to as 'z-buffer occlusion' mean the GeForce3 will not waste power rendering graphics the user cannot see on screen.

No pricing has yet been released, but a low-end GeForce2 GTS still retails at £190, so pricing for GeForce3 will target the high-end user.

First published in Computer Reseller News